After his father has a life-altering stroke, Max Holden isn't himself. As his long-time friend, Jillian Eldridge only wants to help him, but she doesn't know how. When Max climbs through her window one night, Jill knows that she shouldn't let him kiss her. But she can't resist, and when they're caught in the act by her dad, Jill swears it'll never happen again. Because kissing Max Holden is a terrible idea.

With a new baby sibling on the way, her parents fighting all the time, and her dream of culinary school up in the air, Jill starts spending more and more time with Max. And even though her father disapproves and Max still has a girlfriend, not kissing Max is easier said than done. Will Jill follow her heart and allow their friendship to blossom into something more, or will she listen to her head and stop kissing Max Holden once and for all?

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A breathtaking, astonish debut novel. Did you ever come across novel that you didn’t want to end? KISSING MAX HOLDEN was that novel for me, I got so into the story which had me feeling as if I was part of story. I didn’t want it to come to end, I didn’t want to say goodbye to everyone, especially Jillian and Max. It was impossible to not love the characters in this book, expect for Becky and Jillian’s Dad, her dad was back and forth between liking him and then not. By end I did not like him but in a book I kept going back and forth. There were a lot of emotions that went through me while I was reading KISSING MAX HOLDEN and the way that emotions were portrayed in the book, I felt as if I was feeling those emotions among with the characters. KISSING MAX HOLDEN was an emotional novel and I couldn’t seem to pull myself from it, I needed to know what would happen next, especially with Max and Jillian. has a way to pull her readers into story from the start to the end.

Jillian and Max had an interesting relationship. When I first started reading it, when the two of them kissed for first time, I had feeling that it couldn’t lead to anything good especially since he was drunk, and still with Beth when the two of them kissed for first time. I know that Max cared about her but I didn’t think he cared about her more than that, especially since he was drunk when he kissed her, and went back to Beth despite how she treated him. I had this feeling that Jillian would end up getting hurt by him. I could tell that Jillian seemed to care about him a lot more, just way that she kept coming to his rescue. As a book progressed, I could see the change in Max and he seemed happier whenever he was around Jillian. It was not long before I saw how deeply he cared for her, that he loved her. Like Max I hoped that she would tell her father soon so the two of them wouldn’t have hide anymore. I don’t blame her for not telling him right away, especially after finding her father with his mistress. I cannot imagine the hurt, the anger and the betrayal that went through her at that moment.

I tried to like Jillian’s father and as I said I kept going back and forth. Like Meredith, I suspected that there was something going on. I mean, he was too busy to be there for his wife when she had the baby? I felt like there was a red flag right there. I liked Meredith, and I loved how she was with Jillian and she didn’t deserve that, neither of them did. There was one other person I did not like right from start, Becky. I hated how she treated Max, I don’t even know why he stayed with her as long as she did. How she treated Jillian even before she found out. I was glad when Max finally ended things with her for good. He deserved so much better. The way that Jillian and Max were around each other, that’s love. The two of them needed each other and I hoped a happy ending for both of them.

There wasn’t anything I didn’t love about KISSING MAX HOLDEN I fell in love from the first page, and I still find myself thinking about the book, the characters after finishing. KATY UPPERMAN did an astonishing job, and I am already craving for her next novel. I was lucky enough to meet her at launch party where I live, and she’s one of nicest people I met, I am so happy for her, Congrats again Katy! Not only was story beautiful but I loved the cover, the title and it all fit perfectly.